Only Blake Griffin Can Stop Himself

Blake Griffin has been amazing this season. You see spurts of greatness in the playoffs, BUT he is going against him self at times and mentally trying to overcome some hurdles.

Thunder can NOT stop Griffin. Only he can. When Griffin faces up and is confident and just is mentally focused Ibaka can not really stop him without fouling him. Griffin made some reckless and bad mistakes in Game 4 just forcing some post-up shots but he still had his regular dominant numbers.

If Blake can just mentally become more tough and just overcome these mental hurdles he himself puts on himself I think it will elevate his game to the next level even more. And I think it will come with more time in the league and just seeing it all. He still needs to mature and he will. I have faith, Griffin can be MVP within the next 2 seasons. He is so good, he stops himself by simply not being confident and being aggressive enough. He needs to face-up and be quick in Game 5 and Game 6 for the Clippers to beat the OKC without the games coming down to the wire as much. He needs to set the tone early and just feast on Adams and put Ibaka in foul trouble. I still think the Clippers will win in 6 games. Just hope Blake plays without "doing too much" as Doc likes to say.

CP3Best

05/11/2014 - 06:28 PM PST

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This summer I want him to actually work on post moves, I love his faceup game, He has the Dream's shake on faceups with those hesitation jabs UNSTOPPABLE, love it. But I want to actually see some post moves.

AirGriffin

05/11/2014 - 08:18 PM PST

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Definitely man. He'll get there. He needs to spend a lot of time with Malone. He's his second coming and Malone has publicly already stated that he respects Griffin and would love to work with him.

kashimoto

05/11/2014 - 08:26 PM PST

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The funny thing to me is that he is making big steps every year. He isn't a guy that has a gift for being a jump shooter. It will take time and effort just like any other profession. Seems like he is trending in the right direction to me!

free throws getting better

jump shot getting better

post moves getting better

I am sure he will work on his weakness as that seems to be his style.

CP3Best

05/11/2014 - 09:48 PM PST

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I wonder if we will ever hear the commentators not say "he's been working on that in the summer" I love Blake his work ethic, and I think he will carry us to a few championships...

AirGriffin

05/11/2014 - 11:25 PM PST

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We are this year bro believe it. And I want to get tickets to game 6 know anywhere I can get good cheap tickets?

CapsNClips

05/11/2014 - 11:39 PM PST

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Let's give some credit to Serge Ibaka here. He's making life so difficult for Blake.

He's a way better defender than I've given him credit for in the past.

That being said, he's a dirty ass player and deserves to be castrated.

AirGriffin

05/11/2014 - 11:44 PM PST

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Bro have u seen Blake face him up? It's crazy how quick Blake is. Ibaka either fouls Blake, gets away with a foul, or gets scored on. If Blake misses then he misses, but like I said, I think Blake makes life more difficult for himself than Ibaka. Blake is too good to be stopped I truly feel that. And Ibaka usually gets some help on Blake.

CapsNClips

05/12/2014 - 12:15 AM PST

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There's no question that when Blake faces up and attacks quickly he can light up Ibaka (or anyone for that matter), but there's been a lot of instances where Ibaka has been able to match Blake's quickness and use his length to make Blake either miss the shot or pass into a turnover.

Besides the fact that I think Blake is a little hobbled, I think Ibaka has been defending out of his mind.

I'm sure OKC fans are pissed about KD not taking advantage of little Chris Paul guarding him at the end of the game, but we are here saying Chris did a great job on defense.

If we are going to praise Chris for defending Durant well, we must praise Ibaka for defending Blake just as well.

ClipperRevival

05/12/2014 - 03:01 AM PST

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It's a bit of both. Ibaka is a great defender and is very athletic himself. But as stated before, he needs to face up more and use his quickness instead of trying to back down Ibaka. But Blake has also been neutralized many times when facing up so credit must go to Ibaka. But in the grand scheme of things, a true alpha dog superstar should be destroying single coverage. Blake is not there yet. He is still struggling with single coverage. Guys who get physical with him and/or has good athleticism bother him. So the next step for him to get to that highest level of superstar play is to destroy single coverage. Most greats worry about the double and don't sweat the single defender.

ClipperRevival

05/12/2014 - 03:03 AM PST

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Blake has been neutralized many times even when facing up.

Bingo3

05/12/2014 - 07:16 AM PST

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No doubt he's improved immensely (especially the jumpshot) but he really has no post moves. His game right now is really bullying his way into the paint, and throwing up an awkward shot at the basket while getting fouled. Effective, but it's not going to age well with amount of abuse he always gets.His footwork is also horrendous. He needs to fine tune these areas over the summer and develop some real post moves. No doubt he'll improve on this because he has a great work ethic.

ClipperPostman

05/12/2014 - 11:02 AM PST

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Actually Blake has really good footwork. You hear Ralph and Mike praise

him all the time.

Blake actually is near exceptional footwork. What he doesn't have is finesse nor many back to the basket

post moves, and that

is what people want blake to have more of. Honestly I don't think that will ever happen.

He will never be tim duncan or Lamarcus. His style of play is more of a bull,

and it works for him. It seems to be who he is, and trying to get away from that

only makes him worse.

As far as Ibaka Guarding him I don't think anyone is saying Blake will beat Ibaka

every single play. No one in the history of the NBA except maybe Wilt,

has ever beating their man Every single play. That would result in a 100 point game.

However I do agree with this post. Over a span of an entire game, if Blake is aggressive

and plays to his strengths, and doesn't hesitate or over think it, he will dominate ibaka

and put up big numbers over the course of an entire game.

jerdogthompson

05/12/2014 - 11:17 AM PST

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I was at the game yesterday and watched in disbelief for 3 1/2 quarters, truly epic come back, OKC has to feel snake bitten at this point.

I think it was BG's first drive to the basket and he went up and Serge punches him in the family jewels, once just once, I'd like to see how Serge like getting punched in the jewels. Send in Ryan Hollins and let him get suspended for a game or whatever. That's the same crap Serge pulled last year, when is enough enough?

After that play BG was very tentative (cant understand why?), he started to put it together but OKC has done a pretty good job defensively on him. Plus when we shoot 15% from the field in the first quarter all OKC has to do is pack the paint making it easier to double BG. I look for BG to rebound back huge in game 5 and have one of those games like when CP was injured.

#InDocwetrust

AirGriffin

05/12/2014 - 03:27 PM PST

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Well this is what I started the topic about, it's Blake himself who neutralizes himself. He hesitates and doesn't operate "naturally" at times and overthinks. When momentum is with the Clippers you see Blake just attack the basket more freely and simply succeed. And it's cause he does often get double when he drives it in when he's facing-up. Ibaka needs help. No doubt about that.

ClipperRevival

05/12/2014 - 03:35 PM PST

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Ibaka has neutralized Blake quite a few times even when Blake was facing up and without help. But I agree with you, it's more a mental issue with Blake rather than physical. He seems hesitant and unsure of himself sometimes when guys get physical with him. If he plays freely and attacks, he should have success because as athletic as Ibaka is, Blake is more athletic. Quicker, faster, more explosive, however you want to slice it.